frightening
Syllables: fright·en·ing/ˈfɹaɪtənɪŋ/
frightening adjective: causing fear; or capable of causing fear; scary. Also the present participle and gerund of frighten.
Adjective
frightening (comparative more frightening, superlative most frightening)
- Causing fear; or capable of causing fear; scary.
- Riding the rollercoaster was a frightening experience.
- The Owl is flying high, frightening to the eye.
The Rattler is nearby, Cool is on the fly.
Danger is his business.1966, “Cool McCool (theme song)”, Bernie Green (music) (Cool McCool (television series)), performed by Bob McFadden
- Awful, terrible, very bad.
Also used as
frightening is also the present participle and gerund of frighten.
frightening meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Sanskrit
frightening in Hindi
- scary
- भुतहा bhuthā
frightening in Urdu
- خوفزدہ کرنے والا
frightening in Punjabi
- ਡਰਾਉਣ ਵਾਲਾ
frightening in Sanskrit
- scary
- भीम bhīma, भीषण bhīṣaṇa, घोर ghora
More languagesFewer languages
- frightening in Arabic
- مُجَفِّل mujaffil, مُخِيف muḵīf, مُرْعِب murʕib
- frightening in Persian
- سهمناک sahmnâk
Examples of frightening in a sentence
- His ideas were both frightening and crazy.
- He feared her device more than his for what was more frightening than an uncertain future?
- A comforting anchor, Samuel was a contradiction to the frightening events portrayed.
Synonyms of frightening
- affreux
- alarming
- spine-tingling
- appalling
- awful
- eldritch
- butt-clenching
- buttock-clenching
- dreadful
- fearful
26 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of frightening
| comparative | more frightening |
|---|---|
| superlative | most frightening |
Origin of frightening
From frighten + -ing.
Words formed from frightening
Words that rhyme with frightening
Questions about frightening
- What does frightening mean?
- Frightening means causing fear; or capable of causing fear; scary.
- What is frightening in Hindi?
- Frightening in Hindi is भुतहा (bhuthā). See Frightening meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is frightening?
- Frightening is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce frightening?
- Frightening is pronounced /ˈfɹaɪtənɪŋ/.
Words near frightening in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: frightening (page history and authors); frightening (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); frightening (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-frightening.ogg.
Cite this entry: “frightening.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/frightening. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.